A Small Victory

July 02, 1986|The Morning Call

It may be a small victory, and one for which the people involved have waited entirely too long. But the announcementthis week that municipal water service will finally be made available to those victims of pollution from the Heleva Landfill in North Whitehall Township is welcome, indeed. Technological advancements have meant a better life for many. In this case, however, the dark side of such progress doomed the well water used by these families.

For more than four years people like Joseph Cincilla have been forced to abandon their wells. "I am desperate," he declared recently. Such desperation is born of having been caught up in a complex tangle of events. It was not the fault of the property owners that their former water supplies became poisoned, yet they are caught in the middle of a battle between Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, the landfill owners and state and local officials.

This frustrating episode may well serve as a warning to all of us, as we gradually get a long-term look at what we have done to our environment. The tiny victories won by the federal Superfund and its allies in the war against the residual and continuing pollution of our land and waters are minuscule when measured by the enormity of the problem. Countless tons of toxic wastes and byproducts have been carelessly dumped throughout the country. It's a scourge which the federal government must strive to address purposefully, or risk horrendous consequences in the future.

The neighbors of the Heleva Landfill may be seeing the light at the end of their particular tunnel. But, absent a thorough governmental and societal commitment to massive cleanup programs, a long, dark toxic trail may be part of our future.